Carton



Aug. 8, 1961 R. c. CASSELMAN CARTON Filed Jan. 15, 1958 FIG. 2

INVENTOR.

FIG. 4

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,995,238 CARTON Robert C. Casselman,Auburndale, Mass, assignor to P0- laroid Corporation, Cambridge, Mass, acorporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 15, 1958, Ser. No. 709,016 1 Claim.(Cl. 206-62) This invention relates to cartons and more particularly tonovel cartons which are particularly useful for holding rolls ofphotographic sheet materials.

One object of the present invention is to provide cartons of the typewhich are inexpensive to manufacture, simple to assemble, easy to loadwith the materials to be carried therein and which can be utilized assuch or converted, in a very simple manner, to provide a stablesupporting surface to assist in the application of a protective coatingto photographic prints held thereon.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a means ofreadily mounting, temporarily, a single-plane object, such as aphotographic print, to a supporting medium.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part appearhereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessingthe features, properties, and relation of elements which will beexemplified in the article hereinafter described and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the claim.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a preferred form of blank used for making acarton in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the carton formed from the blank ofFIGURE 1, the top closure being shown in the half-closed position;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the car-ton of FIG. 2 as it is utilized toassist in the application of a protective coat ing to a photographicprint; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the carton of FIG. 2 as it is utilizedto support a coated photographic print in accordance with the teachingsof the present invention.

This invention relates generally to novel cartons which are particularlyuseful for holding rolls of photosensitive sheet materials and which canbe utilized as such or converted, in a very simple manner, to provide asupporting surface for the protective coating of photographic printsmounted temporarily thereon. The photographic sheet materials for whichthis carton is particularly designed comprise, in one form thereof, aroll of negative photosensitive sheet material and a roll of positivesheet material. These two sheets are preferably associated withrupturable, liquid-carrying containers and are adapted to be used in acamera of the type shown in United States Patent 2,435,717, which cameraproduces a positive print on a predetermined area of the positive sheet,this positive print being subsequently severed from the remainder of thesheet. A carton of the present invention is constructed and so arrangedto safely hold two such sheets in roll form for shipping to the cameraowner. In addition the carton is so constructed that, upon the openingof a closure, there is provided a means of readily mount .ng, upon thecarton, temporarily, a previously severed positive print. Thus a mediumis provided for the support at a positive print during subsequentphotographic operaions which comprise the manual coating of the retainedrositive prints surface with a protective composition to affect therebyan increase in the resistance of said print :0 subsequent abrasion anddeterioration.

ice

A preferred type of carton is formed of a single sheet of material, suchas chip board, which is cut into a blank, and suitably scored andperforated as described hereinafter. This blank is then formed into acanton having lateral walls, including front and back walls, and endwalls. The carton alsoincludes top and bottom closures having portionsforming the top and bottom Walls. The top closure constitutes an upwardextension of either the front or rear wall, while the bottom closureconstitutes a downward extension of the other of said front and rearwalls. The sheet material is preferably scored along the lines definingthe boundaries between the various walls so as to assist in folding theblank during formation of the carton. The end walls preferably includeextensions providing top and bottom flaps for assisting in closing thetop and bottom of the carton, the boundaries between these flaps andtheir respective end walls being preferably scored.

In order that the above-described carton may be readily converted into aprint retaining and supporting medium, a closure is slit from each sideof said closure along the hinge line thereof, preferably coextensivewith the scoring contained thereon. Each slit extends less than one-halfthe distance between their respective origins and terminates in aseparate slit, preferably of comparative equal length, contained withinthe closure perpendicular to the hinge line thereof. Thus when saidclosure is in an open or extended position, the respective tabularprojections, contained within the closure and formed by theaforementioned slits, may be utilized to retain, against a coextensivecarton wall, a single-plane object, such as a photographic print, uponinsertion of a margin or an extension of a margin of said object beneaththe respective tabular projections.

The tabular projections may, where desirable, be formed by either theslitting or perforation of a closure from opposing sides, each of theslits or perforations extending less than one-half the distance betweentheir respective origins and terminating at a point in the closurefurther distant, from the wall contiguous with the closure, than itsrespective origin. Where the tabular projections are formed by theperforation of a closure, the perforated margins of said tabularprojection may be severed prior to the mounting of a photographic print.

Referring now to the various figures, wherein like numerals refer tolike elements, a carton is formed from a blank 11 preferably cut from asingle sheet of material such, for example, as commercial chip board.The carton includes a front wall 12, a rear wall 13, a first end wall14, and a second end wall 15. A plurality of score lines 16 define theboundaries between the various walls enumerated above. A top closure 17is provided as an extension of the front wall 12 and a bottom closure 18is provided as an extension of the rear wall 13, score lines 19 beingprovided to define the boundaries between the closures and theirassociated front and rear Walls. Each end wall 14 and 15 is providedwith tabs 20. Another tab 21 constitutes a lateral extension of thefront wall 12, this tab being coated with an adhesive 22 for securingtab 21 to the inner surface of end wall 15 during manufacture of thecarton.

To permit ready bending of the closures 17 and 18 during formation ofthe assembled carton, there are provided score lines 23 extending acrosseach closure. The inner corners of the top closure 17 include tabs 25.As can be seen from examination of FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 the tabs 25 are,in the preferred form, located adjacent to score line 19 on theperiphery of the top closure 17.

When forming the carton, shown in FIG. 2, from the blank of FIG. 1,blank 11 is creased along the vertical score lines 16 to form arectangular carton body, the outer surface of tab 21 being secured, bymeans of the adhesive 22, to the inner surface of the end wall 15.Bottom tabs 20 are then folded inwardly, the bottom closure 18 is foldedalong score line 19 and the outer end 24 thereof is folded alongscoreline 23 and tucked inside of the front wall 12. The product to becarried by the carton is then inserted within the carton, the top tabs20 are folded inwardly, and the closing of the carton is then completedby folding the top closure along score line 19, folding the outer endthereof along score line 23 and tucking it behind rear wall 13, When itis desired to remove the contents of the carton, the top closure 17 islifted, the tabs 20 are moved to the side, and the contents removed.

In a preferred use of the carton of this invention, as shown in FIG. 3,the top closure 17 is in an open or extended position. A margin of aphotographic print 30 is inserted beneath tabs 25 and the protectivecoating is applied while the print 30 is held firmly against the frontwall 12 of the carton. Due to the resiliency of the chip board tabs 25,the photographic print 30 is held firmly in such close proximity to thefront wall 12 that said front wall 12 forms a supporting medium for theprint 30 during the manual coating operation. After the coating of theprint 30 is complete, said print 30 is removed from attachment beneaththe tabs 25 and the canton may be further utilized as a container and/or for the subsequent coating of additional photographic prints.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the preferred carton is so constructed thatthe measured distance along a diagonal axis from the distant edges ofopposite walls is substantially equal to the dimensional distancemeasured from opposite edges along a medium axis of a photographic print30. A print-retaining means is thus provided such that, upon insertionof a freshly coated photographic print into the carton, each of twoopposite edges of said print is held in substantial contact throughoutits length with a distant edge of said cartons opposite walls. Thus, thecoated surface of the photographic print is held firmly insulated fromcontact with foreign matter during the time interval required for theprotective coating to dry and/or harden.

The use of the container, by means of which packaged film istransported, as a supporting medium for the protective coating ofphotographic prints has the decided advantages of simplicity ofoperation, low cost of manufacture and ready availability to thephotographer. The carton of this invention thus avoids the necessity ofutilizing a separate apparatus or makeshift means to support thephotographic pr t during the coating operation. In as much as thesolution used to coat the photographic print may adversely affect somepaint, stain, varnish, plastic, etc., finishes the use of makeshift fiatsurfaces to support the print during the coating operation isnecessarily limited as to both availability and suitability.

Since certain changes may be made in the above product without departingfrom the scope of the invention herein involved, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

What is claimed is:

A photographic film package comprising a carton initially containingrolls of photographic sheet materials, said rolls being adapted to bephotoexposed and processed, a plurality of photographic prints ofpredetermined dimensions being removed selectively from one of saidrolls after processing, said carton having front, back and side wallsarranged so that said carton is rectangular in horizontal cross section,a top closure fiap hinged to its back wall, said flap being movable toan open position substantially coplanar with said back wall, first andsecond tabs extending from an anchored portion thereof a substantialdistance toward said flap hinge and formed one on either side of saidflap and integral thereto, said print being adapted to have portions ofan edge thereof inserted under said tabs when said flap is in said openposition, said back wall supporting said print during the application ofa protective coating thereto when said print is inserted under saidtabs, the diagonal distance between opposite corners within the interiorof the carton being equal to the width of said print, whereby saidprint, after being coated, may be inserted within the carton andretained thereby, the edges only of said print contacting the interiorsurface of said carton.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS910,753 Weaver Ian. 26, 1909 1,103,708 Thumb July 14, 1914 1,272,618Burgess July 16, 1918 1,390,405 Waldes Sept. 13, 1921 1,564,250 LambertDec. 8, 1925 1,746,721 Tanner Feb, 11, 1930 1,934,218 Webb Nov. 7, 19331,989,659 Adsit et a1. Feb. 5, 1935 2,141,752 Hoarle Dec. 27, 19382,768,909 Haslam Oct. 30, 1956 2,803,561 Kather Aug. 20, 1957

